GOLD RIVER, Calif. – The Western Washington University rowing team won its second Great Northwest Athletic Conference team title Saturday at the 2024 conference championship on Lake Natoma.

 

Racing on the same course where the team enjoyed great success three weeks ago during the WIRA Championships, the No. 2 nationally ranked Vikings won the gold medal in the featured Varsity 8+ race to close out Saturday's racing and won a bronze medal in the Varsity 4+ to finish with 26 team points. WWU also won the non-scoring Exhibition 4+ to leave Gold River with a truly gold-medal performance.

 

"A wonderful day for our team today," said WWU head coach John Fuchs. "They rowed their hearts out. We are very proud of them, and they are beaming. It sure makes for a fun trip home! But we are not finished yet, one more in Cincinnati at the NCAA Championships."

 

This marks the second GNAC title for the Vikings in the four-year history of the event that started in 2022 when the conference adopted the sport. 

 

The Varsity 8+ came in ranked as the top crew in the conference after a strong finish to the regular season and backed up the pre-regatta listing by earning the gold medal the featured race in dominating fashion. WWU clocked 7:03.090 on the 2,000-meter course outside of Sacramento to beat second-place Central Oklahoma by nearly two boat lengths with a margin of victory of over seven seconds. The Vikings charged out of the gates at the start and never looked back while capturing the title in the eight-oared boat.

 

The Varsity 4+ earned a bronze medal edging out Central Oklahoma to earn key team points that helped lift the Vikings to the team title. WWU held off UCO at the finish to earn eight key team points, finishing with a time of 8:18.430.

 

Western opened what ended up as a championship winning regatta by winning the non-scoring exhibition 4+ race with a time of 8:23.310 for an open-water victory over second-place Central Oklahoma.

 

The Vikings enter the conference championship regatta ranked No. 2 nationally and No. 2 in the West Region, just behind the University of Central Oklahoma. The four-team GNAC Rowing lineup features four of the top five teams in the Pocock/CRCA Division II Coaches Poll. 

 

Western is led by 26th-year head coach John Fuchs and ninth-year assistant Courtney Moeller. The Vikings earned placed 4th at the NCAA Division II Rowing Championships last year after earning runner-up honors in 2022. The eight-time national champions have appeared in the NCAA Rowing Championships in 19 of the last 21 seasons. WWU is primed to make another appearance with today's showing with nationals held May 31-June 1 at East Fork State Park in Bethel, Ohio.

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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WWU won the GNAC title scoring 26 points by winning the Varsity 8+ in decisive fashion to earn 18 points and a bronze medal in the Varsity 4+ earned eight points. Here is a breakdown of the scoring from the GNAC regatta. The 3rd-place tie between UCO and SPU was broken by UCO having a higher finish in the Varsity 8+.

 

 

Here is a look at the official results from the 2024 GNAC Rowing Championships held Saturday on Lake Natoma in Gold River, California. Results can also be viewed via RegattaTiming.com:

 

 

Here is a look at the lineups for the Vikings at the GNAC Championships:

 

 

This is the fourth GNAC Rowing Championship since the sport was adopted by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in 2020. Here is a look at the all-time finishes in GNAC Rowing Championships history, with WWU (2022 & 2024) and Central Oklahoma (2021 & 2023) combining to win the four titles.

 

 

Here is a look at the current 2024 Pocock CRCA Coaches Poll for NCAA Division II. The GNAC Championships features four of the top five teams in the nation racing for the conference title:

 

 

Following the GNAC Championships this weekend, the Vikings will then find out if they are part of the six-team NCAA Division II Rowing Championships held May 31-June 1 at East Fork and Harsha Lake in Bethel, Ohio. The NCAA Selection Show is Tuesday, May 21 at 2 pm PT on NCAA.com. WWU has competed in 19 of the 21 NCAA II Rowing Championships and is 8-time national champions.

 

More information on the WWU Rowing program, including a details schedule, roster and quick facts can be found online at WWUVikings.com/RowViks and via social media on Twitter (@WWU_Rowing), Instagram (@wwuwomensrowing) and Facebook (@WWURowing).

 

Led by head coach John Fuchs (26th season), WWU Rowing is one of the elite collegiate rowing programs in the country, having won eight NCAA Division II National Championships. The Vikings won the 2017 NCAA II title, placed 2nd in 2018, 3rd in 2019 and runner-up again in 2022. WWU has competed in the NCAA Championships in 19 of the 21 NCAA Division II national regattas, taking home the gold (8 times) or silver (5 times) medal 13 times in the 21 years the NCAA Division II team title has been awarded, and reached the podium all 18 times. Western won seven consecutive DII national championships from 2005-2011.

 

WWU Rowing Inside the Numbers:

19 – NCAA II Rowing Championship Appearances (out of 21)

15 – Individual Championships (Eight-6, Fours-9)

8 – National Championships (2005-11, 2017)

5 – National Runner-Up Finishes

2 – GNAC Championships (in 4-year history of event)